The following relates to the nuclear power arts, nuclear power safety arts, nuclear reactor control arts, and related arts.
Existing integral pressurized water reactor (PWR) designs place the core generally at the bottom, with steam generators overlapping or wholly above the core in the vertical direction. These PWR design can employ natural convection where the core heats the primary coolant which then rises in a central riser and then comes back down in an outer annular region, sometimes called the downcomer region. Alternatively, forced convection can be employed, in which the circulation of the primary coolant is driven by pumps. In the latter design, the pumps are disposed at the bottom of the reactor or above the steam generators in the downcomer region and coupled with the steam generators to force the primary coolant downward into the steam generators.
Some examples of such reactors are disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,328; “Consolidated Nuclear Steam Generator for Marine Application”, The Engineer (Aug. 21, 1964); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,563, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.